Category: Sports
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Late night at SDSU vs. TCU
We had a good time at the game last night. But a 7:30 PM tip off is just a little too late for a 7 year old.
Context: This picture was taken after everyone had left the sold out arena. We were seated directly next to the student section. They were loud and crazy from 30 minutes before tip off until the game was over. Like 100+ decibels.
Paul passed out at halftime. Yeah, right after Coach Steve Fisher caused the place to nearly explode by arguing to get the final play of the half reversed and SDSU to make a tip in basket. And he slept through the whole second half.
I carried him on my shoulders about a mile to our car. Through campus and rowdy students, over the bridge, and past all of the freshmen dorms. (Because I’m too cheap to pay to park in the lot.)
This morning, he was bewildered at how he got from the arena to the car. But I didn’t carry him because he can’t remember that.
I wouldn’t have traded time with him for the world.
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Basketball fever
I’m an Indiana kid. Growing up, I played 21 from the time the neighbors driveway thawed until school started. Sometimes dozens of games per day. Not to sound like a John Cougar Mellencamp song, but we played until our fingers bled. Then we’d have lunch and play until it got dark.
Where I went to school everyone went to every high school basketball game. This culminated in 1994 with Clay High School making an improbable run to the state Final Four and winning it all in a come-from-behind thriller.
That love of the game carried on into college when I played endless games of pick-up basketball and even had a little stint as student sports information director for both men’s and women’s basketball teams. I’ve sat on the sidelines, keeping score, operating the shot clock… hundreds of games. I love it.
Not quite like my love for Notre Dame football. (Or cheddar cheese) But love nonetheless.
Finally, this year I have a lot to cheer about on the hardwood.
Notre Dame is very good. At 18-4, having beaten some very good teams, they are a lock for the NCAA tournament with 5 weeks to go. I’ve watched them play on TV a bunch. They might not be the most dynamic team in the Big East but I think they may be the most feared. No one wants to try to stop Ben Hansbrough. Because if you do he’ll just pass it off to someone else who will light you up. I’ve not seem them play better, top to bottom, in the Big East than with the squad they have this year. If they keep this up they would be a disappointment at anything less than a Sweet-16 berth.
San Diego State is ridiculous. I know that many people outside of the West Coast have been able to see them play yet. The Mountain West has a horrid TV deal with its own network which keeps them off of ESPN. But they are 22-1 and easily the best team in the west. I have kicked myself since November for not getting season tickets when I had the chance. But tonight will be my third game and I have another game next week to go to… but that’s it. They are sold out the rest of the way. The thing most people don’t understand is that SDSU has no star. They have 8 guys who could each start and one of them goes off to dominate each game. I’ve seen Billy White take over a game. I’ve seen Malcolm Thomas destroy teams. I’ve seen Kawhi Leonard make teams look silly. And D.J. Gay has ruined some teams from the point. It’s the craziest thing. But Coach Fisher has somehow kept the whole thing together, kept everyone focused, and been quick to remind his team that NO ONE outside of San Diego respects them. They barely even make it onto SportsCenter!
My biggest fear is that these two teams will play in the 2nd round of the NCAA. Ideally, they will meet in an Elite 8 or (be still, heart) the Final Four. Both of them are that good. And neither would surprise me to be there.
Let’s go Irish!
S-D-S-U! Aztecs Fight!
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Fixing College Football
Mark Cuban is admirable for trying to fix college football.
Let’s start with this: It’s broken.
2010 is case in point. In mid-January Oregon will play Auburn in a game labeled “the BCS championship game.” But, if TCU wins the Rose Bowl they deserve to be co-national champions, too. We’ll simply never know who is the best team in the college football in 2010.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. It’s happened a lot in college football. And it’s always the big money conferences shutting out the Little Sisters of the Poor. (As Ohio State president & chairman of the board of the foot-in-mouth council calls them.)
It’s about the money
We all know it. No one believes that it is about the athletes academic calendar… as the NCAA so stupidly claims. They certainly allow a playoff in every other sport, regardless of academic issues.
It’s about TV rights, protecting lesser bowls, visitor bureau’s, guaranteed payouts, conference affiliations, and a whole litany of people who are getting paid on the side.
It’s not about championships
We will never know who the football national champion is until we have a playoff. Why? We are leaving it up to computers and polls and fluke plays to determine who the champion is. Are Auburn and Oregon the best teams right now? Ask Ohio State, Michigan State, and Stanford that question.
Imagine just putting Duke vs. Kansas every year in the finals and calling that a basketball championship? What makes March Madness so fun for the whole country is that we take the best teams and let them decide who the champion is by playing the game.
The solution– Keep all of the bowls; have a 16 team playoff
First, shorten the regular season to 10 games. Then have a conference championship game determine who gets the automatic bid. Allow 5 at-large bids, top 11 conferences get an automatic bid.
That would be: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big 10, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac 10, SEC, Sun Belt, and WAC.
Second, identify the top 8 bowls the week of Christmas. Play in a 2 day rotation of 4 games each day.
That would be: Independence Bowl, Little Caesar Bowl, (formerly Motor City Bowl) Las Vegas Bowl, Gator Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, New Orleans Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, and Holiday Bowl.
Third, the round of 8 would be played on January 1st. The Final 4 would be played the second Saturday of January. These would be the six big games we all love. They’d be competitive and they would mean something. This would make January 1st an incredible day of college football. A rotation of the top 6 bowls would cover these.
That would be: Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Gator Bowl.
Fourth, the championship game would be played the 3rd Saturday of January. (Or, maybe more ideally, the Saturday between the AFC/NFC Championship & Super Bowl game.) I would argue that the game should be played annually in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl. Let’s face it, the Rose Bowl is the most amazing place in college football to play a big game. It’s perfect in every way.
Two ideas for fixing the money problem
- Each participating school would earn an equal share of tickets, television, and all other monies paid to the NCAA for the coverage of this, just like in basketball.
- The rest of the remaining teams & bowls would be invited to play in the exact same system we already have. That’s 20 bowls left untouched! A 16 team playoff only effects and enhances 15 bowl games. We all know everyone would make more money.
This shows this isn’t just about money. It’s about pride. The SEC, Big 10, Pac 10, Big East, and Big 12 are just plain scared to play teams from other conferences. I don’t know how fans of those conferences can be proud of teams who are afraid to play anyone on any day.
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Metrodome Collapse Video
Whoa. That was intense!
Act of God? Or maybe, just maybe, there is a conspiracy! I kind of think that Minnesotans will do anything to see Brett Farve never play in their stadium again.
This makes me giggle knowing that I’m looking for sunscreen on my way to the Chargers vs. Chiefs game today.
But the jokes on me since I have a 6:35 AM flight to Minneapolis in the morning.
ht to Blake
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Michael Jordan Owns Lebron James
This is a mash-up, but whoa. Awesome and true. Lebron isn’t the king of anything.
ht to Eric Smith via Facebook
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San Diego State Aztecs Go to 7-2
Who would have thought that the college team in town would be the best team to play at Qualcomm Stadium this year? I know I didn’t.
I took Megan and Paul to the Aztecs game last night and had a blast. We didn’t get home until about 11:00 PM, but I think we’re slowly making Aztec fans out of them.
- They begged me to go early for the game so they could play in Aztec Village. (Bounce house, live music, food we didn’t buy, etc.)
- When I told them it’d be easier to just drive to the game… Megan put her foot down. “No daddy, the best way to go to the game is on the trolley. It’s faster and kids ride free.“
- The stadium is starting to fill with actual fans. Having 40,000+ for the fireworks show is one thing, but to attract 34,000+ for a game against a lesser opponent– we’re now getting somewhere.
- The football team now controls their destiny. If they win out they will win the Mountain West. But if they beat either TCU or Utah they will likely finish 9-3 and enjoy some respect going into the off-season. But 8-4 is now very likely. (I can’t see them beating either TCU or Utah.)
- I’m totally bummed that I’ll miss the Utah game. (I’ll be at NYWC in Nashville)
- I’ve officially decided to increase my season ticket order for 2011. Two tickets per game is now not enough. Anyone want to join me?
- Speaking of 2011. Rumor has it that we’re adding Boise State and dropping BYU. Toss in a game at Michigan with the fact that they are recruiting local talent like crazy (100+ local high school players on the field to watch warm-ups) and I think Coach Hoke is starting to capture lightning in a bottle.
- We all got a kick out of the streakers. The first one made it about 100 yards. The second one was a kid, he didn’t make it very far.
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SDSU beats Air Force
When I decided to buy season tickets to San Diego State I have to admit that I did it on a whim. In 2008, they were horrible. But they got a new coach and I figured that for less than $100 per seat, I couldn’t lose.
My hope has always been that my kids would learn to love football the same way I learned to love football… on Saturday’s with dad at the stadium. Last season was a bit rough. The only thing the kids liked about the games was spending some time with me and our trip to Rite Aid to load up on candy to take to the game. This year, with the team noticeably better, they’ve started to get into it a tad more.
Last night was a huge win for the program. But it was also a huge win for Paul becoming a football fan. For a big chunk of the last five minutes of the game Paul stood on the back of the seat in the row in front of us, shoulder to shoulder with me, screaming “Defense! Let’s go Aztecs! Defense! Oooooo!” (And stuff like that.)
When we scored, he joined in the chorus of high fives. When we recovered the onside kick, he shouted YES!
It was a cool bonding time for us.
Here’s a couple of videos I took on my phone from the beginning. (I’ve got kind of a meme going)
National Anthem (Ahem, that’s not me singing, that’s the guys in front of me)
Football team taking the field
The video above is from 619sports.net. They are local sports nuts who have created a name for themselves by doing a local sports blog. I had a similar idea to do this in Romeo but never got around to it. Kudos to them for creating something out of nothing.
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San Diego State Aztecs taking the field
Some differences in the pre-game stuff worked out between game 1 & game 2. (Minor) The group of students who welcomed Monty the Aztec with his spear went over to the student section then made their way to the 50 yard line. Also, they changed the timing of when the alumni came out to stab the field.
It doesn’t show here because San Diego people arrive late. But the stadium ended up 2/3rds full. 45,000 people watched them light up Utah State 41-7. If it weren’t for a muffed punt in the 3rd quarter it would have been their second straight home shutout.
Highlights of the game:
- Vincent Brown scored two touchdowns. His first was 65 yards after breaking some ankles with a move when he caught the ball. His second was pure speed, an 82 yarder where he caught the ball across the middle in stride and never looked back.
- The defense stuffed Utah State. Clearly, the defense had tapes of the Oklahoma game and out-schemed the Aggies.
- The crowd was buzzing in the first 20 minutes of the game. They ran the ball at will, scored at will, and had their way with Utah States swiss cheese defense. Dropping 21 points on them in the first quarter sealed the deal before 50% of the fans even came out of the parking lot.
- The Aztecs have a lot of weapons on offense. A solid QB, three legit RBs, two standout WRs, and an emerging TE.
- My 9 year old daughter was “kind of” into the game. Yesterday, she learned how you get a first down. And the Aztecs running all over the field made it fun to watch for her. In the third quarter she looked at me and said, “There’s no way the Aztecs can lose, we have 5 times the yards and we have way too many points for the amount of time left.
Non-game highlight of the week:
45,000+ plus people came to the stadium for the 35th annual Sky Show. The fireworks were great and all… but the highlight was the 75 fireball that finished it off… and the fact that it lit the field on fire while the crowd roared on!
